Читать книгу Writing Children's Books For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 84

If you want to know what it takes to stand out, listen to Doug Whiteman, former president of Penguin Books for Young Readers. Having been in the publishing business for over three decades, Doug started out as a book sales rep and worked his way to the top. Several years ago, he formed his own literary agency, The Whiteman Agency. Here’s his take on being successful in genre writing:

 Does a writer need to understand the conventions of a children’s book genre and stick to what the readers expect? “That’s a really good question because we have different filters we’re selling to, each of which has its own expectations. Our accounts and their buyers certainly expect things to fit into traditional molds, as do many parents and librarians. And many times, I’ve seen books stopped cold if they couldn’t be easily classified in a traditional way. Having said that, kids themselves are looking for the truly unique and original. So the best answer to your question is: Understand the conventions and know we will have to package and position your book in a relatively traditional way in order to get past the filters, but give us some sneaky originality inside the covers to captivate the kids.”

 At the largest publishing companies what kinds of children’s books are always hot? “It seems to me that we’re becoming increasingly cyclical, so there’s very little that’s always hot. Picture books, for example, seem to go into downturns every ten years or so. Series books are less cyclical than they used to be. And nothing is more cyclical than licensed publishing, which goes up and down like a roller coaster every few years. Probably the steadiest category is fantasy; everyone likes to think that Harry Potter made fantasy into a bestselling genre, but the truth is that people like Philip Pullman and Brian Jacques were selling huge numbers long before J. K. Rowling came along.”

 What kinds of books are most always not hot? “Picture books with long texts, expensive books based on holidays that can’t command high price points (like Halloween), and books that have depressing endings! I can’t think of a genre, though, that’s never hot.”

 What turns a one-off children’s book title into a contender for a series? “A wonderful character (or characters). People can sometimes enjoy a great book that doesn’t have an impactful, memorable character, but a great character can supersede an otherwise mediocre book, leaving your readers clamoring for more.”

 Any advice for new writers? “Do your homework and listen!”